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Seek new hearing
date, Ogiek lawyer told
by
John Kamau, Rights Features Service
(May 18,
2001) The case of the Ogiek failed to take off in a Nairobi court
once again yesterday and was only mentioned.
Ogiek lawyer
Kathurima M'inoti today told Rights Features Service, "we have
been asked to seek a new date from the registry."
However,
no date had been fixed for the hearing of the case by this afternoon.
"We will
have to look for a new date next week," said M'inoti.
The case
was at first set for April 30, but the Attorney General's office
had sought for the Ogiek case to be consolidated with a separate
case filed in the western Kenya town of Eldoret by an environmental
lawyer challenging the degazettement of 10 per cent of Kenya forest;
thus removing them from state protection.
Almost 70
per cent targeted for excision is within the Ogiek homeland of
Mau Forest.
Although
state counsel Valerie Onyango had sought more time to have the
Nairobi and Eldoret cases consolidated, the Ogiek Welfare Council
has rejected the plan.
"We have
agreed with our client that these are two different cases and
they raise different issues," said an Ogiek lawyer in Nairobi
today.
There was
anticipation that the Eldoret case would have been moved to Nairobi
but according to the Ogiek lawyer, "when the Eldoret case came
up there was no mention that it would be brought to Nairobi or
that it would be consolidated so we are going ahead with the Ogiek
case in Nairobi."
It is not
clear why the state wanted the two separate cases heard as one.
While the
Eldoret case is challenging the degazettement, the Ogiek case
want the degazettement of East Mau stopped until the case they
have filed in court is heard and determined. A previous order
had stopped any interference with the Ogiek land until the case
is determined meaning that the minister was in contempt of court
for trying to gazetting the excision of the Mau Forest land.
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